Perfect timing
the Mostyn
Tompion clock

Supported by

Asahi Shimbun

Recommend this exhibition

This display will focus on the finest creation
of London’s greatest clockmaker, Thomas Tompion.

This magnificent clock celebrates the coronation of William III
and Mary II in 1689, and was kept in the royal bedchamber. It was
made by a talented and industrious man who was in the right place
at the right time. Thomas Tompion came from modest beginnings – he
was the son of a village blacksmith – but he ended up making clocks
and watches for royalty, and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

London 350 years ago was the perfect place for Tompion’s genius
to shine. In the previous century, religious persecution in the
Netherlands and France had led to an exodus of Protestants,
including many goldsmiths, silversmiths, engravers and watchmakers
who established their trade in London. The city’s prosperity meant
that Tompion found a plentiful supply of clients.

When William died the clock passed to Henry Sydney, Earl of
Romney, Gentleman of the Bedchamber and Groom of the Stole. On his
death in 1704, it passed to the Earl of Leicester and then to Lord
Mostyn and remained in that family until 1982. It is now known as
‘the Mostyn Tompion’ after its former owners.

The clock continues to keep good time, and is notably
‘year-going’ – it runs for a whole year on a single wind. Lord
Mostyn held a winding party each year, and the British Museum
continues this tradition today.

In ‘the Mostyn’, Tompion built a sophisticated timekeeping
instrument, a status symbol and a work of art all in one machine.
The display itself is perfectly timed to coincide with the 300th
anniversary of Tompion’s death in 1713.